FHRX

[GMan]

Has anyone had any experience dealing with these guys? I sent an email to them a while back for a quote on a set of splits. A guy called Marty replied and when I asked him to price match/beat a competitor based in Victoria, he gave me a patronising and arrogant response along the lines of "If $x is going to cause you that much grief", then I should go with the other guy. He proceeds to call me "champ" and "buddy" and links me to a blog in which he's whingeing about how retailers have it hard these days and people should pay top dollar to keep companies like his alive.

I understand he is among the top installers out there, but with the tone of this email he must be a tool. Sounds like he's not a fan of globalisation.

 

[cittris]

I have no experience with this guys personally but all i know is if you want something done properly and done well he is the guy you should see. Over on MEA he is mentioned all the time for the quality of his work.

 

[marc.r]

Pretty much got the same. Unless you are willing to install it how they want it then don't bother. I got pretty much the same response when I checked them out. You are lOoking at around 600 for a set of splits installed using factory wire and no amp. Granted this includes dynamat. I walked in there thinking 1500 would be enough for a passable stereo but they basically laughed at me and told me that would only just get me started and if I don't like it go to some crappy shop that you will waste your money on junk. So I did. Lol.

 

[marc.r]

Oh. 600 does not include the splits. That's just installation.

 

[Poita]

I have bought quite a bit from him and have had countless free advise given over the phone. He has been very helpful and patient.

He has very good specials on a regular basis if you want things cheaper, but generally (from my experience) doesn't price match. I don't really blame him though. He is one of the few in Aus who stocks a wide range of brand name gear (not the standard Pioneer, Sony, Alpine etc) and has the knowledge to back it up. Go to JB or some other web based store and they will never be able to give you the advise or support he can. You are paying for a service and genuine warranty, not just someone who wants to shift stock so buys it from the grey market and sells it cheap online.

BUT these cheap online stores are making it very hard for guys like that, so I can understand him getting a bit annoyed. Still shouldn't be rude though.

 

[Poita]

Oh and I installed all my gear myself as I was in another state!

 

[Slinz]

Dynamat is a pain in the arse to work with, I can understand why they charge a fair bit to stuff around with that on the insides of doors. If the quality of work is good enough then he'll have no problems staying afloat amongst all the cheap web sellers and JB's and so on, but it certainly won't help his cause being rude to people when it's just as easy to be professional about it.

 

[Bad-Karma]

A good mate of mine has had his last couple of cars kitted out buy the guys and FHRX and could not be happier. They deal with a lot of high end/high dollar cars. You might just have got him on a bad day.

 

[GMan]

See, that's the thing -- looks like he's only polite and nice if you're willing to spend big money at his shop. Otherwise, he'll just laugh you off.

Also, I wasn't actually asking him to price match against an online store -- it was another local retailer. I'll bet he didn't even bother to look at their website and just assumed it was an online business.

Shocking.